Why Outdoor Recreation?

62% of survey respondents indicated large community parks are the most important type of facility for the City of Manhattan to provide

Among baseball/softball households, 40% indicated playability of field playing surface was the top service improvement that could be made

Among soccer/football households, 25% indicated the number of practice fields was the top service improvement that could be made

Safety and playability of playing surfaces was the No. 2 priority identified in the Facility Feasibility Study for the "improvements to the safety and playability of existing fields and playing surfaces." Park and trail improvements ranked as the No. 3 priority to "improve availability and condition of community parks, trails and neighborhood parks."

CiCo Park ballfields after a rain (built in 1965)

Synthetic turf at Twin Oaks Sports Complex (updated 2016)

Current Outdoor Recreation Conditions

CiCo Park is the home each summer to hundreds of youth baseball and softball games at its five fields in the northeast corner of the park. City League baseball and softball games were rescheduled due to weather:

23% of the time in 2014. Of those, 80% were rescheduled again due to weather.

18% of the time in 2015 and 2016.

Meanwhile, at Twin Oaks Sports Complex where synthetic turf was added in 2016, 210 more teams played at the complex in the year following turf installation than the previous year.